Apparatus for locating shank stiffeners in shoe soles



Dec; 15, 1925- 1, 5,702

R. E. BARTELS APPARATUS FOR LOCATING SHANK STIFFENERS IN SHOE sows Original Filed April 26 920 W fi wriz Zwimr Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR LOCATINTG SHANK STIFFENERS IN SHOE SOLES.

Original application filed April 26, 1920, Serial No. 376,633. Divided and this application filed May 17,

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, VREINHAVRD E. BAR- "rELs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for L0- cating Shank Stifleners in Shoe Soles, of which the following is a specification.

In attaching rigid shank stifi'eners to shoe soles, the forward end of the shank stiiiener should be located a short distance back of or below the break line'in order'that the resiliency of the shoe at the break line may not be impaired and the shoe thereby ruined The shank stiffener is attached to the shank of the sole while the sole is flat and before it has been shaped to its final form, and for this reason it is difiicult to judge when locating the stiffener, where the break line will be on the sole when the shoe is com pleted. Consequently, many soles have been spoiled by the location of the shankstiflfe'ner too far forward or too far back relative to the break line, in the first instance, destroying the resiliency of the soleat the break line, and in the second, throwing off the tread of the heel, either of which faults is undesirable from the standpoint of good workmanship, if not fatal to the usefulness of the shoe.

Oneobject of my invention is to overcome these difficulties by producing a gaging apparatus, whereby the workman can quickly and accurately locate the shank stiffener on a sole of a given style and size.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby when the desired point for the end of the shank stiffener on a sole of one size of a certain style has been located, the corresponding point for any other size of that same style may be readily located.

A still further object is to produce mechanical means whereby the desired point in any given sole may be readily and accurately located. v

A specific embodiment of my invention by which the above objects may be aooom' plished is illustrated on the accompanying drawings, the subject matter of this application being divided out from my application Serial No. 376,633, filed April 26, 1920, for apparatus for locating shank stiffeners in shoe soles. Referring to these drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus with shank stifi'ener in place thereon, th

Serial No. 561,592.

positionof the sole for the attachment of the stifiener thereto being shown in dotted lines. V

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective of the shank stiffener.

My apparatus may be used to locate any desired point on the sole of a shoe, but the particularuse for which it is designed is to locate a point on the shank of a sole of given style and size at which the forward end of a shank stiffener, to be attached thereto, should terminate. In actual practice, this point is located on the sole about p ne-fourth of an inch back of the break The arouate location of this point by mechanical means is made possible by the fact that the forepart of the sole, i. e., from the toe to the break line, varies in length by approximately one-sixth of an inch for each ,change of full size of the shoe, regardless of style. Therefore, if a point is selected on the sole of a shoe of any known style and size, called for convenience the selected sole, and it is desired to locate the corresponding point on a sole of a different size of the same style, called for convenience the problem sole, one proceeds as follows: First, the distance from the toe to the break Iine is measured on the selected sole, and then the distance from the break line to the point selected is added to or subtracted from this distance, according as the point lies behind or in front of the break line. Then one-sixth of an inch for each unit of size number by which the problem sole is greater than, or less than the size of the selected sole, is added to or subtracted from the distance found above, as the case may be. This new distance will be the distance measured rearwardly from the too at which the required point lies on the problem sole.

Slidably arranged on the forward end of a plate 10 is a gage or locating plate 17, the side edges 19 of which are beveled outwardly to fit slidably in the complemental undercut inner edge of guideways 20 and 21. These guideways may be formed integral with the plate 10, or, as shown, may be attached thereto by means of screws and extend from the forward end thereof, rearwardly along the edges for about half the length of the plate. The slide 17 is provided with a curved recess 18 in the edge thereof toward the rear of the plate 10. This recess may be of such contour and size as to receive the toe of a sole of practically any style or size which may be placed on the plate.

The locating plate may have a scale cut on one of the side edges thereof, corresponding to the styles of shoes, say, from 1 to 16 inclusive, and the complemental guide member has a similar scale 23 on its inner edge adjacent to the graded side edge of the location plate. The gradations of the scale on the guide member are so spaced that each full gradation is equal to the difference of length between the sole of one size of shoe and the next larger size, as stated above, onesixth of an inch. Half grades, or half sizes, oranyother fractional sizes may be indi. cated on this scale. The gradations of the scale 22 on the locating plate are arbitrary, and there may be as many to the inch as is found convenient; the only requisite is that. they be sufficient in number, so that one of the gradations on the slide may come approximately opposite a gradation on the guide member, corresponding to the size of the shoe sole when a key number on the slide is beingfound. The scale which indicates size may be'called the size scale, and the full grades thereof, size numbers or size grades.

Located on the guide member 21 is a clamping member adapted to clamp the locating plate 17 in adjusted position. This clamping member comprisesa washer 2t resting on the guide-members 21, and a bolt 25, passing through the center thereof; and screw threaded intothe guide member 2]. and plate lO. This. bolt is provided with. a head 26. adapted to'bear on the upper surface of the washer to cause it to clamp the slide in position. be turned to and from clamping position by means of the lever arm 27 extending therefrom.

A recess 90 is formed lengthwise in the plate of such size and dimensions that a shank support may be placed therein, with the tines extending. upwardly. A. suitable guide member 93 may be used in order to properly position the soleon the plate so that the shank stiffener. will bepositioned with its longitudinal central line lying directly beneath the longitudinal central line; of the sole. The guideisprovided with means at 95 whereby it may beadjusted-for. eachsize and style ofsole placed on theplate.

The particular gradation of the locating; plate: 17; which comes opposite a; gradation on the: guide: member forv any giveirs'ize, varies with thestyle oftheshoe. 'In order to find tl is .-g'radatioirfo1i a} given. 'style.} l firstselect a lastio-f a-known size of the style in question, and measure the length of the forepart'of the last, i. e., from the toe 'to The head of the bolt may the break line, and add to this, one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch for the overhang of the sole, that is, the distance that the sole extends beyond the last after the upper is pulled over the last; and one-quarter of an inch for the distance back of the break line at which the forward end of the shank stiffener is preferably to be located. I then mark off this distance forwardly along the plate from the forward end of the recess 90 and set the location plate so that the apex. of the curve or recess is located at the forward end of the measured line, and clamp the locating plate in this position. The gradation on the locating plate which falls opposite the size number on the guideway 20, corresponding to the size number of the last selected, is marked as at X to form the reference line, and is taken to be the key number for the given style. Thus in Figure 1 should a size 5 sole be used for the initial measurement, the gradation on the locating plate at m opposite line 5 is the desired reference line, and the locating plate is moved to bring this reference line opposite any other number on the scale 23 when a sole of the same style as the first, but of a size corresponding to that other number, is to be used.

Inasmuch as the sizes of all styles vary by a fixed distance, as above indicated, the position of the location plate for any other size of the given style is determined by merely bringing opposite the key number X, as found above, the gradation indicating that size on the size scale 23.

The scale 22 on which the key number is located, may be known as the'style scale, and the gradation thereon as style numbers, and may receive arbitrary symbols for the different styles. However, the style scale may be dispensed with altogether, and a mark made to indicate a key number for any given style when its location is determined by the above method. Or, for convenience, where a manufacturer works on only a limited number of styles, the key number for each style may be found and permanently indicated on the locating plate as such.

In the use of this form of my device, the shank stiii'ener is placed in the slot 90 with the tines extending upwardly and the sole is placed thereabove, the guides 91-3 being so adjusted as to position the shankol the sole with its longitudinal median line directly above that of the .sha11k stiffener. 'hen so positioned, the sole struck with a, hammer above the position of the tines of thestiifener, driving them through the sole and attaching-the two members together.

"Thelocati'on ofthe shank stiffener on the soles of a given size and style is this manner very much simplified, and the-device my be operatedby boys and other unskilled lit) labor, and the output is very much increased. The cost of production is correspondingly diminished.

Having thus described an embodiment of this invention it will be evident to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications might be made therein without departing from its spirit or scope as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for locating a shank stiffener with its forward end at a desired point on a shoe sole, comprising a plate on which the sole is placed, said plate having a recess adapted to receive the shank stiffener, and an adjustable slide on said plate, whereby when the slide is adjusted for a given size and style of sole, and the toe of the sole of said size and style abuts thereagainst, the point will lie at the forward end of said recess.

2. A device for locating a shank stiflener in a desired position on a sole, comprising a support, means for holding the shank stiffener definitely positioned on the support, and abutments on the plate against which the sole may be placed so as to position the sole above the shank stiffener in position to be attached thereto in the desired position.

A device for positioning a sole and shank stiffener, relative to each other so that the shank stiffener may be attached to the sole in a desired position thereon, comprising a plate having means thereon for holding the shank stiffener in a fixed position, and abutment members on said plate adapted to be adjusted to position a sole'above said shank stiffener in the desired position relative thereto.

at. A device for positioning a sole member and shank stiffener member relative to each other so that the shank stiffener may be at tached to the sole in a desired position thereon, comprising a plate having means thereon for holding one of said members in a fixed position, and abutments on said plate adapted to be adjusted to position the other of said members above said fixed member in the desired position relative thereto.

5. A device for locating a shank stiffener with its forward end in a desired position on a shoe sole, which comprises a plate having a recess in its upper face to receive a shank stiffener with sole-attaching elements thereon upwardly extended, and a gage slidable on said plate against which one end of a sole supported on said plate may engage to correctly position it over said shank support, whereby on striking blows over said attaching elements, said shank stiffener is attached to the sole in correct position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

REIN HARD E. BARTELS. 

